This weekend Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet made headlines with a report that stated the Chicago Blackhawks had asked Brent Seabrook to waive his no-movement clause, fueling plenty of questions for the veteran defenseman today. In response to the story, Seabrook clearly denied that he had been asked and told reporters including John Dietz of the Daily Herald that he doesn’t know where the report came from.
Seabrook, 33, has five years remaining on his contract after 2018-19 and carries a $6.875MM cap hit. Largely considered one of the toughest contracts in the entire league to trade, the Blackhawks legend also has a full no-movement clause until 2022-23, at which point he will still have a partial no-trade clause.
- The NHL has released their three stars of the week, and a pair of youngsters lead the way. 22-year old Jack Roslovic has earned the top spot after a promotion to Winnipeg’s top-six resulted in him recording five goals and six points in four games. Carter Hart meanwhile has taken the second star after going 3-0 with a .931 save percentage while helping the Philadelphia Flyers continue their winning ways. Mika Zibanejad, the elder statesman among the group at 25, comes in as the third star after a six-point week.
- Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told reporters including Chris Kuc of The Athletic that the team is “active” in trade discussions at the moment, believing that there are “hockey trades” to be made. The Capitals are struggling to hold onto a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division and may need a shake up to get them back to their championship level. Washington already signed Pheonix Copley to a three-year extension earlier today, and could be involved in several moves over the next few weeks.
Personally, I think it was a mistake to let Trotz go just when the team finally found the winning formula of which he was a big part of. There is no reason why a team with as much talent as the Capitals should be struggling this badly for over a month now and I don’t think Todd Reirden has a clue about how to fix it. The team has literally had the same problems since the final game of December against the Preds with no lasting improvements made. Still horrible puck management, horrible passing, too many turnovers in all areas of the ice, not winning enough battles and generally being outplayed by their opponents due to general sloppy play. Nothing has changed. This team needs to get back to basics and they better do it fast because if they keep playing like this, they won’t be in the playoffs. I have no confidence in Reirden at this point. Perhaps Coach Q would be an option for next season. I’d love to see him here. He has the track record and this team is built to win right now.
As far as trades, I would like Oshie, Orlov, Niskanen, Eller and Burakovsky (though I know nobody wants him) to be in discussions for possible trades. I am not advocating for all these guys being dealt, but I think the Caps should at least see if there’s anything there.
Not sure how much of the issue with Trotz was money but it sure didn’t take long for he and Washington to part ways. Maybe he felt that because he wasn’t extended previously to his contract running out, he would see what the market would pay, especially with the Cup on his resume.